Last updated at 09:04, Thursday, 10 June 2010

A PERSONAL tribute from Marcus Nickson, close friend and joint proprietor of the West Cumbrian law firm KJ Commons. Kevin was the senior criminal partner and Marcus the senior civil partner in the practice of KJ Commons.

I MET Kevin for the first time in June 1979 when I came to work as a solicitor for John Marsham in Whitehaven.

For years Kevin was clerk to the Whitehaven magistrates. At this time he was living in a cottage at Lamplugh. His great love in life was landscape gardening, machines and motor cars, anything mechanical, which is how we got on so well, being a great car enthusiast myself.

On my first day in Whitehaven I went to the old magistrates court, it was foul weather. There was a big bar fire in the court, Kevin used to turn it round on to the legs of the magistrates, no wonder it was getting so hot, they couldn’t understand why. In actual fact, it was to keep the court sittings short.

It was a very funny morning. I always remember Kevin wore a purple shirt and a white tie. We became great friends from the word go.

He qualified as a solicitor in ‘82, then went to work for Michael Cain. In ‘86 he set up his own practice, that was in Workington. I joined him in ‘92, in those days I occupied the cupboard under the stairs, Kevin had rather grander accommodation.

The firm grew and we moved into Whitehaven and Carlisle. We have a staff of around 70 today.

You couldn’t meet anyone better. You didn’t just run into Kevin, he crashed into you, a lovely, lovely person. He was generous, kind, intelligent, thoughtful and caring.

Was it the case that he’d often offer his services free if the client genuinely couldn’t afford to pay?

Indeed, that was what he was doing the day he was killed.

He knew the Bird family well, he knew David Bird very well, as I did. I think he was trying to help. There was an appointment that afternoon.

He didn’t attach any significance to it. David and he had been great friends for years and I think Derrick got into some difficulty.

The likelihood was he was giving his services free in helping somebody who needed his help – Derrick I would imagine. I can’t go any further because of confidentiality.

Kevin would never get himself into a situation where he thought there was a conflict of interests. He was very hot on conflicts. He would only agree to help Derrick if he was absolutely certain there was no conflict within the family, that is why I say all this speculation (about possible collusion) is absolute rubbish, he just wouldn’t do it.

You couldn’t meet a straighter person than Kevin Commons.

He was certainly colourful, and had strong views on most things.

He liked dogs, he had seven of them kept in compound at the farm. They all had heated kennels.

You couldn’t meet a more genuine, trustworthy man.

It’s such a tragedy, I couldn’t believe it. It was unlike him not coming into work that morning. Sometimes he would decide to cut the grass but he would always let us know. He was going to bring some bikes into the office the day it happened, we were going to do the C2C cycle ride, quite a large group of us, in support of the West Cumberland Hospital.

I have one lovely story about Kevin. When I was 50, he asked what I’d like for my birthday, I said a pond. I have a big field we were trying to drain. Anyway, after returning from holiday, I go down into the field and there’s Kevin in his jeans, turned down Wellingtons and smoking his pipe, there was a digger, a huge hole had appeared in the field with David Bird at the bottom of it. Kevin and David used to landscape together. They’d do anything.

A funeral service for Mr Commons will be held at St John’s Church, Workington, on Friday, June 11 at 12.15pm followed by cremation at Distington Hall. Donations in his memory can be made to the Dr West Haematology Fund, c/o Nelson Chicken, Kirkgate, Cockermouth,

First published at 15:44, Wednesday, 09 June 2010
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk